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A Treatise on Herblaw

By Turcáno, originally posted on at http://www.runescapecommunity.com/

Herblaw, in my opinion, is a very interesting and profitable skillto build. However, it is a skill for the patient. Many peoplebecome frustrated and give up. But those who persevere can acquirewealth and prestige (okay, not that much prestige), as well as thesatisfaction that comes with being good at a difficult skill. Inorder to encourage those who aspire to become herblaw masters, Iwill now give you information that might prove beneficial to yourquest to increase your knowledge of herblaw. This guide assumes noprevious knowledge of herblaw, but it does assume that you knowyour way around RuneScape. Without further ado, let's getstarted.

Level 1

If you are still level 1, that means that you have to do theDruidic Ritual quest. So stop reading this right now and go do it.I mean it! Go do it right now! It's a very easy quest; just collectfour different types of raw meat (beef, chicken, bear, and rat) andtalk to Kaqemeex (in the Druid's Circle north of Taverley), thenfollow his directions. Being able to handle a level-27 monster isthe only requirement for this quest. Completion of this quest willgive you 250 herblaw experience, which will increase your herblawlevel to 3.

Level 3

Now that you have done the Druidic Ritual quest, you can begin yourherblaw training in earnest. First, you will need herbs(obviously). Although any humanoid or high-level monster will dropherbs, Chaos Druids are the best; they drop herbs on a very regularbasis, they drop vials filled with water and snape grass, and theysometimes drop an extra herb along with whatever else they drop.the best place to find Chaos Druids is the Wilderness dungeon. Justgo into through the gate and make a left. There are about 6-8respawns for Chaos Druids here. This means that this area cansupport a lot of herb collectors (and there usually a lot of themthere), but is absolutely amazing should you find yourself alonethere. Also, a lot of high-level herblawists will drop low-levelherbs in order to fill their inventories with the good ones. If theplace is crowded, you are likely to find guam leaves, marrentil,and sometimes tarromin and harralander (I even found a kwuarm once)just lying on the ground, free for the taking (how good isthat?).

To identify an herb, simply click on one in your inventory. Sinceyou are level 3, you can only identify guam leaves and you willhave a lot of herbs (about 7/10 or so) that you will not be able toidentify. You may be tempted to sell these or even drop them.Resist that temptation. These as-yet unidentifiable herbs will giveyou a lot of experience later on.

Next, you will need to acquire second ingredients. For attackpotions (the only potions you can make as yet), you will need eyesof newt. These can be purchased in herblaw shops (there is one inTaverley and one on Entrana) or in the Magic Shop in Port Sarim.They are also dropped from level-36 Zombies for some reason.

Finally, you will need vials. You can purchase empty vials from theherblaw shops or water-filled vials from the adventurer's store inArdougne (2-4gp each). You can also make them. To make vials, youwill need soda ash (from cooked seaweed), sand, and a glassblowingpipe. Seaweed can be caught in big nets at Catherby (people dropthem, so you can pick them up) or found on the west shore ofEntrana. Sand can be collected in buckets from sand pits in Zanarisand Entrana, and Entrana has a glassblowing pipe respawn. Place thesand and soda ash in a furnace to get molten glass, then use theglassblowing pipe on it to make a vial. Vials require a craftinglevel of 33 and gives 55 experience points. To fill an empty vialwith water, simply use it on any sink or fountain.

Now you are ready to make potions. First use the herb (guam leaf)with a water-filled vial, then use the second ingredient (eye ofnewt) with the unfinished potion. That's it. Potions that are madeby players contain three doses, as opposed to the four doses instrength potions made by the apothecary in Varrock. One dose ofattack potion will temporarily increase one's attack level by 10%(not cumulative - do not drink a lot of these hoping for a hugeattack level); the effects will eventually wear off.

Guam leaves can also be found in the Watchtower quest. One of thecaves adjacent to the ogre city south of Yanille contains two guamleaf respawns. However, the respawn rate is about 1 1/2 minutes,which precludes this from being a method of "powertraining"herblaw.

Level 5

You are now able to make cure poison potions. These requiremarrentil and ground unicorn's horn. Many herblawists do not seemaking these potions as worth the time because they believe thatgetting unicorn's horns is a real pain in the neck. However, thereis a large group of Black Unicorns (level 31) in level-20Wilderness to the east of the Graveyard. Unicorn horns must beground in order to be useful. To grind unicorn's horns, go to anherblaw shop and purchase a mortar and pestle for 4gp, then use itwith the horns. Cure poison potions remove poison from the body,but do not restore lost hitpoints.

Level 12

ou can now make strength potions. For this you will need tarrominand a limpwurt root. Limpwurt roots are dropped by hobgoblins;these can be found in large groups on a peninsula just south of theCrafting Guild (crowded), in the Ice Dungeon (not so crowded), andat the Hobgoblin Mines in level-30 Wilderness (watch for PKers).Strength potions give the user a temporary increase in strength by10%. You probably won't sell many of these on pay-to-play, butthere is a fairly good market for them on free-to-play servers (ifthey don't mind 3-dose potions).

Level 22

Now you can make stat restoration potions. These requireharralander and red spider's eggs. There are respawns at the end ofthe Varrock sewer and inside Karamja volcano, but the best place toget red spider's eggs is in the Wilderness dungeon. Just keep goingnorth instead of west and you will come upon four respawns. At thispoint you can begin to make potions "on the spot." Whenever you getsomt harralander and water-filled vials, go to these respawns, graba spider's egg batch, and make a few quick stat restore potions.Normally you would keep a potion made "on the spot," but just dropstat restore potions; you won't be able to sell these and you willmake much more than you would use personally. You can also drinkthe potion if you wish to save the vial. If you do this, do not letyour potions pile up before doing so; it will take you forever(believe me, I know). Stat restoration potions, as the nameimplies, restores all negative effects to stats except forhitpoints and prayer (positive stat effects remain), but this isonly useful to cure the effects of drunkenness, when retrievingWines of Zamorak (see below), or when using the Potion of Zamorak.

Level 25

This is the herblaw level required to complete the Hero's Quest. Atthis point, many people give up herblaw entirely because completionof the Hero's Quest was the only reason they took up herblaw in thefirst place. That is a shame, because at this point, they arereally close to being able to make a profit from the practice.

Level 30

At this level you can make defense potions; these require ranaarweed and white berries. White berries can be found in level-40Wilderness in an area guarded by Red Dragons; they are also droppedby Chaos Druid Warriors (see below for details). I would advise younot to make too many of these potions, as prayer restorationpotions (see below) also use ranaar weed and sell for more money.They temporarily increase defense by 10%.

Level 38

Now you will be able to start making money off of herblaw. Prayerrestoration potions require ranaar weed and snape grass. Snapegrass can be found on the hobgoblin peninsula in three respawns.They are also dropped by Chaos Druids, which means that thesepotions can be made "on the spot." Prayer restoration potionsrestore 30% of one's prayer level with each dose.

Level 45

You will now be able to make another money-making potion: the superattack potion. These require irit leaves and eyes of newt. Superattack potions increase attack by 15%. These normally do not sellvery well unless they are part of a "super set" (see below).

At this point, you should consider training your agility level to40. Then head for the Agility Dungeon north of Yanille (bring curepoison potions - you will probably need them). This will allow youto collect herblaw materials from Chaos Druid Warriors; these dropsnape grass, ground unicorn's horn, limpwurt roots, white berries,and water-filled vials, allowing you to make any potions thatrequire these ingredients "on the spot."

Level 48

At this level you will be able to make poison antidote potions.These require irit leaves and ground unicorn's horn. Unlike curepoison potions, poison antidotes give the imbiber an immunity topoison for a short period. Do not make too many of these, as youwill make more money selling super attack potions.

Level 50

Now you can make fishing potions, which require avantoe and snapegrass. Fishing potions increase the user's fishing level by 3(non-cumulative). There is not much demand for this potion; most ofthe people who buy them do so to get into the fishing guild. Theydo give good experience, though (113).

Level 55

Reaching this level will allow you to make another bigmoney-bringer: the super strength potion. These are made usingkwuarm and limpwurt roots. Each dose will temporarily increaseone's strength level by 15%. These are highly sought after byPKers.

Level 60

At this point you can make weapon poison potions. This requireskwuarm and ground blue dragon scale. You will need to go to theBlue Dragon area in the Member's Dungeon, where you will find bluescale respawns on the ground; these then need to be ground with themortar and pestle. Weapon poison potion can be applied to daggers,arrows (10 for each dose), and darts; the poison wears off afteruse, so you will need to re-apply the poison. Do not make too manyof these; there is more demand for super strength potions.

Level 66

Upon reaching this level, you can make super defense potions. Theserequire cadantine and white berries. These increase one's defenselevel by 15%. These also sell quite well, and PKers and duelers areeager to buy a "super set," or one potion each of super attack,super strength, and super defense; all of the super potions can besold together for more money than if sold separately.

Level 72

Now you can make ranging potions. These require dwarf weed and Wineof Zamorak. to get Wine of Zamorak, visit the the Chaos Temple justsouth of the Wilderness. You can either telegrab the wine or try totake the wine normally. When you attempt to take the wine, theMonks of Zamorak will attack you, and will cast curse spells onyou. If you wish to save law runes, bring stat restore potions withyou to cancel the effects of the curses. Also, bring a friend ortwo with you, as it is almost impossible to keep all of the monksdead at the same time by yourself. Ranging potions do not sellwell, but they give good experience (165).

Level 78

If you have kept at it this long, you will be able to make thefinal potion: the Potion of Zamorak. In order to make this, youwill need torstol and jangerberries. To get torstol, you need tohave an agility level of 67 (or a thieving level of 84 and alockpick) and runes for strike spells. You need to kill Salarin theTwisted, who can only be killed by strike spells. He will sometimesdrop a Sinister Key, which opens a chest containing one torstol andeight other herbs. Opening the chest will poison you, so bring acure poison or poison antidote potion. Jangerberries can becollected on an island to the west of Yanille; you can eithertelegrab them or swing on the trees to get onto the island (bringropes). Jangerberries are edible, so be careful when using them.The Potion of Zamorak temporarily increases attack, strength, andprayer points, and decreases defense and hitpoints. Few people canmake this potion, so there is not a fixed price for them; 5-7kwould be a good estimate for the average price.

Herb Probabilities (Regularly Updated)

Sometimes it can be useful to know how often one gets certain kindsof herbs; for instance, a low-level herblawist can figure out howmany of his or her herbs can be immediately used. This informationis also useful for the Mixed Herb Experience Calculator (seebelow). The odds of getting a certain type of herb are:Guam Leaf: 25.8%Marrentil: 18.3%Tarromin: 14.3%Harralander: 12.1%Ranaar Weed: 8.1%Irit Leaf: 6.8%Avantoe: 5.6%Kwuarm: 4.0%Cadantine: 3.4%Dwarf Weed: 1.6%Torstol is not included in this, since its occurence isregular.

Note: These figures are based on the results of myherb-collecting; only herbs that I have collected myself from ChaosDruids are counted. The figures are an approximation and are in theprocess of being fine-tuned.

Mixed Herb Experience Calculator (Regularly Updated)

There are many experience calculators out there, but they are onlyuseful when calculating the experience for a batch of a singleherb. Sometimes it is more useful to predict how much experienceone can get from a load of mixed herbs. In order to do this, I haveprovided the Estimated Mixed Herb Experience Calculator (patentpending). Because I am not at all good at computer science, Icannot write out a program for it. No problem. Just get out acalculator and follow my directions. First, add together theExperience-Per-Unit (EPU) values for all of the potions that youcan make (leave out any herb types that you drop). The EPU value isfound by multiplying the experience value of the potion by theprobability of getting the relevant herb. The EPU values for eachpotion are:Attack: 6.444099379Cure Poison: 6.871118012Strength: 7.142857143Stat Restore: 7.569875776Defense: 6.055900621Prayer Restore: 7.065217391Super Attack: 6.832298137Poison Antidote: 7.242236025Fishing: 6.288819876Super Strength: 5.046583851Weapon Poison: 5.551242236Super Defense: 5.124223602Ranging: 2.562111801Note: Since they are based on the herb percentages given above,these figures are an approximation and are in the process of being fine-tuned.

Three herbs (ranaar weed, irit leaf, and kwuarm) have two EPUvalues, so only use the value for the potion that you intend tomake; herblawists who make both at the same time can either use thelower value or average them together (see below for details).

Anyway, the total sum of your relevant EPU values will give theaverage experience value for one herb in your inventory (remember,unidentified and/or unusable herbs are not included). Multiply thisnumber by the number of inventory slots available for herbcollection and the result is the amount of experience that you canexpect to get from each trip to the Chaos Druids. Example: I can make all potions super strength and below and makesuper attack and prayer restore potions, so my total EPU valueswould be 53.26086957. I usually have 23 inventory slots reservedfor herbs, so I can expect to get about 1225 experience points fromeach load of herbs.

Advanced Calculator Techniques: If you make two differentpotions for a single herb on a regular basis, you can average theEPU values together by multiplying the ratio for each herb, add thevalues together, then divide by the total. Example: Let's say that for every five ranaar weeds I collect, Imake three prayer restore potions and two defense potions. I wouldmultiply the value for prayer restore potions by 3 (21.19565217)and the value for defense potions by two (12.11180124), add themtogether (33.30745342) and divide by 5, giving 6.661490683. Thisnumber would then be used for the ranaar weed EPU value in yourcalculation.

Turcáno's Herblaw Map

For those of you who aren't very good at finding your way aroundRuneScape or can't follow someone's directions to save your life, Ihave provided a map which locations of herblaw materials indicatedon it. I feel that this map is superior to the old herblaw map(found on the toolkit and probably on a lot of other sites) on twocounts:~The old herblaw map only covers free-to-play areas, so allpay-to-play areas are neglected (which means that many materialscannot be found on it).~The old herblaw map give the locations of all monsters that dropherbs, while my map only gives the locations of members of theDruid family, which are much more productive.

Tips & Tricks

Do not sell your herbs. I cannot stress this enough. Whenyou sell herbs, you are selling the experience that you could havehad for yourself.

Buy Unidentified Herbs At Your Own Risk. You should buyidentified herbs whenever possible. The experience given foridentifying herbs is insignificant when compared to the experiencegiven for making the potion. It also guarantees that you will notbe scammed; many unscrupulous herb salesmen will deliberately notidentify a batch of guam leaves and sell them for 2-2.5k each (theywill be the most expensive guam leaves you can buy). However, manypeople sell unidentified herbs because they cannot identify themthemselves; they will usually state the lowest level the herbscould be when advertising. Still, there is the possibility of beingscammed. Try to buy from people you can trust. Also, try not to buyherbs for more than you can sell the potions for.

Keep Your Customers. A good customer is worth his or herweight in gold. If you find one, try to keep this person assatisfied as possible (prompt service is a plus) so that they willcontinue to buy from you.

Don't Give Up On Low-Level Potions. Many people stop makinglow-level potions because they see this as a waste of time. It isnot. Herblaw is a slow skill to build, and you will need all theexperience you can get.

Quests. Three quests give herblaw experience as a reward.One that you have already done is the Druidic Ritual quest; theother two are the Tribal Potion and Digsite quests. I suggest thatyou do these quests immediately; as I have said repeatedly, herblawis a slow skill to gain experience in, and taking advantage ofevery opportunity to gain more experience cannot beoveremphasized.

Stockpile Vials. Having too many vials (can you even havetoo many vials?) is much better than not having enough vials. Buyor make vials on a regular basis to avoid shortages at inopportunemoments.

Make a Routine. I won't lie to you; the training of herblawcan be quite tedious at times (I have found that this isparticularly true if you neglect a certain herb - usually marrentil- and let it pile up). This tedium is due largely to an inefficienttraining system that slows the process down. Either borrow orinvent an efficient manner of potion-making. I borrowed Ethalsar'sroutine of immediately putting herbs into vials when I get them.Ethalsar claims that this saves bank space, but this has not beenmy experience; there is actually less free bank space should yourun out of vials. However, I like it because most of thepreparatory work is already done and one simply has to collectsecond ingredients to make the potions.

Greenman's Ale. This interesting lager can be purchased atthe Yanille tavern for 10gp. It temporarily increases one's herblawlevel by one. This is not cumulative; drinking more than one willnot keep adding extra levels. If you are dying to make potions oridentify herbs and are one level short, by all means take advantageof this.

Well, that's all the information I can give you. If you need moreinformation, consult Ethalsar's Herblaw Guide; it is arguably themost comprehensive study on the subject of herblaw (even I learneda thing or two).

Good luck.

--------------------------------Special thanks toEthalsar for providing information about ranging potions, torstol,and the Potion and Zamorak, as well as for the informationconcerning experience values and pictures of potions. I would alsolike to thank Zybez for information pertaining to the manufactureof vials. Thanks to JAGeX for the map and pictures ofingredients.

I am continually updating this guide, so check back often.Comments, corrections, and additions are encouraged.